After Vacation Blues

About a week after getting home from our Caribbean cruise, I woke up Tuesday morning thinking it was Sunday, and I was late to breakfast and meeting my wife and friends on The Lido Deck. I was so disoriented and fuzzy I had no idea what was going on. I went back to bed for another hour, hoping I'd feel better.

No such luck. I woke up with a wicked headache. When that happens, the only thing that works is Nurtec ODT. I usually go to the gym on Tuesday, but this day it wasn't happening. I didn't have the strength for it, or for that matter the will to do much of anything. 

I texted my new friend Dorothy, thinking that she would find it funny, that I thought I was still on the ship. She agreed that she would also like to be at the buffet breakfast.

Being retired, I don't have to go to work that day after coming back from vacation. I had that happen to me to many times, and I vowed it would never happen again. 

After our honeymoon in 1992, I went to work the next day, and certainly didn't want to be there. I was sleepy and lethargic the entire day. After that, I always took an extra day off so I didn't have to return the next day. 

I mean, who would want to go to work after seeing a Caribbean sunset like that?

The few days that followed coming home involved to many doctor's appointments, putting away the outdoor furniture into the garage, tidying up the lawn, shutting down the sprinkler system and catching up on some much needed errands.

Vacation withdrawal is a known thing, and now I want to make plans to go on another cruise with our friends next year. 

Before we went away, a postcard came in the mail offering "A FREE CRUISE, AIRFARE AND HOTEL!" I was skeptical as I always am, but didn't do anything before we went away. My daughter called, but because her name wasn't on the postcard, they wouldn't tell her anything.

So a couple of days after we got back, I called the number, and made an appointment to join a 60-75 minute Zoom call on Wednesday, October 8 at 8:30 PM. Was I excited about a "free" vacation? Just call me Mr. Skeptical. Nothing in the world is free unless your parents give it to you, and even then there could be a catch.

So we get on the Zoom around 8:15, and we are joined in the room by 4 other couples from around the country and the facilitator. We were told that the room was going to be monitored for participation. 

At first, it's just information about what the company does. Head are nodding, hands are raised in acknowledgment to questions, and this guy from Orlando, FL keeps on talking.

Then BOOM...they want you to sign up for a vacation membership! It starts at $9,999 with a $249 start up fee, and then a $199 a year membership fee. 

DEAD FREAKIN' SILENCE IN THE ROOM. DEAD.

Then he says there's good news, that the first 3 couples that raise their hands, get a $3000 discount! 

AGAIN...DEAD FREAKIN' SILENCE. No one raised their hands. We are then handed off to another salesman in another room. 

At first, Daryl seems really nice, going over the benefits of the membership, etc. We keep saying NO. At this point we are over 2 HOURS into this and are dead tired. Daryl then drops it from $6,999 to $4,999, and finally to $3,499 with no start up fee. He keeps hammering away, and I said to him, "You can't sell and salesman." He ignored me, and kept on going, until I raised my voice and said "STOP!" 

He then handed us off to the final person, Hal in Nashville, who started off with an inane story we didn't care about. I again raised my voice and said "STOP!" We said no, and nothing you are going to say will change our minds. He faked being insulted, and said if you want to leave, just hit the red button on the bottom right. 

So I said, "CYA!" and clicked out of the room. We thought that was almost as bad as the timeshare presentation we attended in Savannah, GA a number of years ago. That thing lasted over 2 hours and the kids were not happy. Heck, they promised food and there was nothing.

My wife and I thought that we wouldn't get the promised vacation certificates, but wouldn't you know it, they showed up the next day. The only thing we have to pay is fees and taxes, and I estimate that to be in the neighborhood of $1000 or so for a cruise, airfare and hotel. We'll find out once I complete it.

Lesson learned, I will never, ever fall for one of those presentations again. That's two and half hours of my life I'll never get back.

Let's face facts, wouldn't you want to be on that beach in St. Thomas rather than where you are now or in a stupid Zoom meeting?

UPDATE October 17, 2025: I got a call from Travis at RSI Vacations, asking some questions about the presentation. I told him that 75 minutes should not have turned into 2 and half hours! I also told him that that the two guys after him were rude, condescending and downright horrible to talk to. He apologized, and mentioned that they had been getting complaints about them in the week since the presentation happened. He asked if we were offered the "free" option, and I said no.

Free is not free if any money is involved. The tax was based upon the $7500 value, about $550. Yes, that is a good deal, but we were so pissed about the whole thing we still said no. He said he would give us until the end of the day to decide. Again, a deadline!

I wrote an email to Travis, asking why was it based upon $7000 instead of the $3500 that was the last price offered? I also told him had he given us a reasonable amount of time to decide, that would have been better instead of making a quick decision. 

I still haven't gotten a reply, and I doubt I will. 

Vacation Cruise

The Carnival Venizia

It has been eight years since I went on a cruise, and this one had the same itinerary as the last one, when we went on the Carnival Sunshine to San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk. This ship, the Carnival Venizia had the same itinerary, and eight years is a long time, so I figured what the heck. The dates were good, September 22 to October 1.

You see, I was supposed to go on a cruise last year with my wife, but a few days before we were supposed to leave, I got Covid and was sick as a dog. That cruise was on the MSC Meraviglia out of Brooklyn to Bermuda, which we had visited about 20 years ago. Since I couldn't go, my wife and daughter went while I stayed home with the cats.

Before we left for this cruise, I got my Covid and Flu shots with no side effects except for a sore left arm for a few days.

Our boarding time was 12 PM, and we got there a little early, and was put into the security que right away. We went to our cabin and dropped off our carry ons and then went to the buffet for lunch. It's easy to get carried away, but I made myself a promise to not eat like a pig.

I belonged to a couple of Facebook groups, and a lady from Canada organized a meet & greet at one of the bars by the pool. I was excited to meet some of the people I had been chatting with. My wife and I got there at 2, and only the lady that organized was there. Joy and I were truly disappointed that no one else showed up.

Monday night after dinner, we wondered over to the main area, called the Piazza San Marco. There was a young couple singing, and I liked them right away. Their names are Monet and Christian from Canada, and I was quite impressed with them. I yelled out a request for Billy Joel, and I got a wave and big smile back, and they played "Piano Man."

(Christian, Matt & Monet)

So throughout the cruise, my wife and I went to see them, and our favorite venue about the ship was the Carnavale Lounge. It was very intimate and the acoustics were great.

They appreciated us so much, that Monday night when we got back to the cabin, there was a plate with two HUGE chocolate chip cookies along with a note from them thanking us for our friendship. You can visit their site at www.monetandchristianmusic.com. 

We had picked the My Time dining option at The Grande Canal Dining Room, which meant we didn't have to be at the main dining room at any appointed time. Carnival has an app called The Hub, and we had to check in on that. It always said 20-30 minute wait, no matter when we checked in. On Tuesday night, we had checked in and it said that. We got there early no less, and was told there were 85 people in front of us! Are you kidding me??? While I didn't yell, I did show my frustration, and we got seated 5 minutes later to what seemed to be a half filled dining room. I simply could not understand their system, and could only imagine it was a new tablet based reservation system that isn't quite working correctly yet.

I had organized a group breakfast for Wednesday morning at The Grande Canal Dining Room, and was patiently waiting for the group chat members to show up. One lady came up to me, with my picture on her phone and asked, "Are you Matt?" Her name was Dorothy, and her husband was Mark. It turns out, he and I had worked for the same company, so we instantly had a bond. We ended up spending the rest of the cruise with them, and we have plans to meet up with them on October 25.

(Marcy & Matt in the back, Mark & Dorothy in the front)

We spent the first 3 days at sea, and then our first stop was at St. Thomas. We took a 3 hour tour. (NO, we didn't get stranded anywhere) One of the stops was at the highest point on the island, simply called The Mountaintop. 

 

(Looking down at Meagans Bay Beach)

Before we got to San Juan, it was announced that due to hurricanes, we wouldn't be stopping at Grand Turk. Instead they gave us two more hours in San Juan. That meant another day at sea. 

Our next stop was San Juan, and the weather was perfect! Not to hot, and a perfect day for walking. One of our first stops was the Cat Sanctuary, which Joy had told me about. (By the way, after Wednesday, Joy had dumped us because we were hanging out with Dorothy and Mark.) You all know I love cats, so this was a must stop for me. The building was very small, and once we got inside, the odors hit us like a brick wall. The cats were so cute, and one even had a note that it was adopted and was going to Boston!

(The small pink building that housed the cat sanctuary, and the black cat that reminded me of Dakota)

We walked all around Old San Juan, and stopped at the restaurant that lays claim to inventing the Pina Colada, Cafe Barrachina. We got some apps and a drink, and they really hit the spot!

(Here's me and Dorothy enjoying a cold Pina Colada!)

If you haven't been to old San Juan, the colorful buildings are really amazing.

We walked until we couldn't anymore. We purchased t-shirts, stickers, magnets, all sorts of cool souvenirs. When we finally got back on board, it was time for a nap before dinner. A couple of hours later, after a nap and shower, we were ready for dinner!

 

(Yay, dinner time with Mark & Dorothy!)

The next three days went by as a blur. Even though we were on the ship for 6 out of 9 days, there was always something to do. It's up to the cruise director to make sure everyone has fun. I always make it a point to meet the cruise director, and his name is Mike D'Auria. I had read about him before we got on, and the reviews were generally positive. So here's a picture of me and Mike in the Piazza San Marco.

 

(Matt & Mike in the Piazza San Marco)

All in all, we had a great time, and meeting people that live only 2 hours away is a plus. I think we found lifelong friends!

So until next time...Cya Bye!

 Headaches

Migraines run in my family. They started with my late grandmother Dorothy, skipped my father, and went on to my daughter Michelle. 

I've always suffered from heachaches, dating back to junior high school. They usually hit on Sunday night, fearing the next day at school. I was "bullied" before it became a thing, and I not only stood up to these two guys, but reported it to the school principal, who straightened them out pretty quickly. We became friends, and one of them even protected me from other kids in school.

He learned his lesson then I threw him to the ground and told him what would happen if he did anything to me again. 

The headaches went away.

Over the years I had "normal" headaches, and either Tylenol or Advil usually took care of them. Recently, my headaches have been horrible, and I spoke to my neurologist about it, and it's most likely tension headaches because they are at the front of my head.

He gave me a prescription called Amitriptyline, and it is taken at night as one of the effects is drowsiness. It helps with the morning headache, like the one I have now. As soon as I'm done, I'll take a couple of Advil, which will help with the headache and the back pain.

My daughter takes Propranolol which is taken every day to stave off those lousy migraines, which can ruin anyone's day. And I mean a full day full of nausea, pounding head pain, floaters in the eyes and dizziness. I count myself lucky as not having those.

When I saw my primary doctor, I told him about this, and would my blood pressure cause the headaches? I knew the answer, and he said yes. He gave me yet another blood pressure medication, and to take my blood pressure every day. I do, and while there has been some improvement, it's not down in the normal range yet. It can take up to 6 weeks for it to take full effect.

So a headache is not always a headache. Ask your doctor if you think anything is out of the ordinary, it can save your life.

 OMG Those Big Pharma Ads

How many times a night as we watch "Regular TV" are we bombarded with multiple ads for medications we didn't know that we needed?

The most annoying by far is the song and dance one for Jardiance, a diabetes medication. I take that, and thank goodness I don't have the many side effects that quickly run across the screen. Two things happen to me, I have to pee quite a fee times a day, and sometimes it has a really bad odor to it.

I asked my doctor about that, and he said it was a normal circumstance to the medication. It's converting all the sugar in your system, and that's one reason for the frequent urination and odor.

Then there are the ones for Rinvoq and Humira, which are for psoriatic arthritis. These ads make you to not want to take them!

Then there are the ads for the diabetes medications that are being used for weight loss. I take Monjouro, starting at the 2.5 dose, going up to 5.0, 7.5 and now the 10.0 dose. I have lost about 30 pounds in over a year due to taking it, along with going to the gym 3 times a week.

Wegovy shows people singing and dancing in the street, saying how much weight they have lost. Look at the screen crawl about the side effects, and what you have to do to lose the weight. Diet and exercise are the key things. I have cut out a lot of junk food, but I still love my cookies, cakes, and other sweet stuff.

The most depressing ads are for the lung cancer pills. They are not a cure, but a life extender with so many side effects it makes me wonder are they worth it? My mother had lung cancer, and was on one of these medications that didn't do much for her. At the end, she decided to stop all treatment.

Now I watch the streaming services much more that don't inundate me with all these ads.

Gas VS Electric

 

I've always had gas powered cars, but was always fascinated by alternate energy ones. For most of my life, I've read Motor Trend and Car & Driver and always devoured them cover to cover.

They have done stories about hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas, electric, and even solar powered cars. 

Here on Long Island, many of the bus lines are powered by natural gas, so I don't understand why cars aren't.

The amount of energy and labor it takes to mine the minerals for lithium iron batteries is crazy, and do you know where most of those rare earth minerals come from? China.

Our new president wants to impose 25% tariffs on imports from China, and even Canada and Mexico as well. He also wants to let the tax rebate offered on electric cars expire, so now that $7500 many people were counting on towards the purchase price is going away.

Is there such a thing as an affordable electric car? Right now, the least expensive are from General Motors, and even then, their promise of an electric Equinox at $25,000 is false. It now starts at $30,000 for a base model, and goes over $40,000 for a well equipped model.

Compare that to the gas version which is easily $5000 less. When I bought my 2020 Equinox LT 2.0 Turbo model with the Comfort and Convenience Package, I paid $27,000 with tax and after a rebate. Had I gotten the non turbo model, it probably would have been about $2K less, but that was the car that was available in the color and packages I wanted, so I got it.

That 2.0 Turbo engine came from the sister Cadillac model and was available for only two years. The gas mileage isn't as good, but it is fast!

One of the other reasons I wouldn't go electric is that my house would have to upgrade from 100 amp service to 200 amp service. That cost is anywhere from $5-10K, and then you have to pay and install the charge. 

I honestly don't think that electric cars are going to take over the US, and here are the reasons. 1) The cost difference over gas. 2) The cost to buy and install the charger. 3) Range fear is a very real thing. Right now most electric cars have a range of 300-400 miles, depending on the model, and of course the weather. In cold weather like we have in the Northeast, the battery range will decrease in the cold weather. 4) Other than Tesla, there are no reliable charging networks available across the country. Many manufacturers are making licensing deals with Tesla, which means the consumer has to buy a new plug and/or adapter. 

Imagine you want to drive from Florida to New York. To be on the safe side, you're going to pre-plan your route and look for charging stations. Imagine your frustration when you pull into one of them, and they are all being used, and there is a huge wait to get charged. Or how about pulling into a smaller area and half are broken, and there is a huge wait for the rest of them. 

You can only hope and pray that the hotel you chose for the night has working chargers, and they are not being used for hours and you have to wait.

No thank you. I'll stick to my gas powered dinosaur for the rest of my driving days.

How Real is Reality TV? 

I like to watch certain reality TV show, mostly about cars (restoring, buying & selling) and home building. I've been quite lucky that I got to meet some of those car builders that I saw on MAX.

The first people I got to meet was Amanda and Joe Martin from "Iron Resurrection". they are based out of the Johnson City, TX outside of Dallas. When I met them, I had just finished watching Season 5, with two more to go. I asked if/when there was going to be another season, and they didn't know yet. They are about as real, and nice as you hoped they would be. I bought a t-shirt, which they signed along with a picture. I wanted to ask a million questions, but with a line of behind me, it was kind of tough.

Next up was Bill Carlton from "Texas Metal." His shop, Ekstensive is located in Houston, TX. Unfortunately, he didn't bring any t-shirts with him, but I did get an autographed photo. I asked him a couple of questions about the show, including when there would be another season. His answer was the same, that things were up in the air at WarnerDiscovery, and he had no idea when there would be another season.

One of my favorite home renovation show was/is "Good Bones." They had 8 seasons, and after looking them up on the internet, it turns out there is some personal turmoil going on. The show starred Mina Starsiak Hawk, and her mother Karen Starsiak. 

For all the seasons, they appeared to be a loving mother and daughter, but the truth is that during the last season, their relationship was strained, and now they don't communicate with each other. In additon, Mina and her half brother Tad also aren't talking, as she implied he was toxic and needed to work on himself.

What about the supporting cast of MJ (the designer), Cory (the project manager) and Auston (the all around construction guy)? 

There is a 3 episode season called "Good Bones, New Beginnings." The first episode is all about Mina closing her retail store, and wanted to sell the business headquarters. She and her husband Steve also bought a new home, and were counting on the money from the sale of the headquarters building to put into the new home. Unfortunately, that sale fell through, and she ended up renting it for 18 months instead.

MJ and Auston appeared in that episode, and no mention was ever made of Karen. I thought this was strange, and looked up was going on. Such family drama!

The next two episodes were all about Karen buying a home in Wilmington, North Carolina. Hmmm, what happened to her  husband Roger? It turns out they are getting divorced. Her intent was to retire there, but her son moved to Indianapolis, and took over her home, and Karen moved into the guest house over the garage.

So she didn't want to miss time with her family, including the new baby her daughter Kelsie has, she decided to split time between the two locations.

Helping her with the Wilmington house were MJ, Cory and Auston! These guys appear to be in the middle of mother and daughter, except for Cory.

So you have to wonder, what happened that was so bad that they are not speaking, and half the cast (Tad and Cory) aren't talking to Mina either?

Having my own problems with my late mother over the years, and losing a lot of time with her, I want to just yell at them to get over it. Doesn't Karen miss Mina's two kids as well?

So how real is reality TV?

Tattoo Life 

I got my first tattoo about 6 years ago for my late cats Domino and Daphne. It was very simple, just black with no colors. I had the heart, "D's" and eyes filled in this past March. There were no problems with it at all.

While I was in Florida for my mothers funeral in September 2023, I found a tattoo shop about 4 blocks from the hotel that had very good reviews. Since Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, and my mother died on September 9, I decided to get a tattoo to commemorate both of them.

Since Buffett fans are called parrott heads, naturally I had to get a parrott, along with a margarita. The bubbles are from his song "Bubbles Up" found on his last album, "Equal Strain on All Parts." I took it a step further, and put Mom, Dad and JB inside the bubbles.

I had that done on a Friday, and got home late Sunday. On Monday, I noticed some swelling, and redness. I got an appointment with a Primary Care Doctor at my regular practice, and lucky me, I had cellulitis. It's a very bad skin infection that can get into the blood and cause sepsis. The doctor gave me Bactrim, a strong antibiotic and it started to work within a couple of days.

In March 2024, I decided to add on to it, and went to a local Long Island tattoo shop. I also got a tattoo for my girls. The angel fish is for my older daughter, and the dolphin is for my younger daughter. They are swimming around a blue moon.

 

I added on the water, fin, beach and the lost shaker of salt. (IYKYK) Lucky me, I got cellulitis yet again, and instead of waiting for an appointment at the office, I did a video visit, and got a very nice lady doctor from an NYU office in NYC. She looked at the redness and agreed that I had it again, and gave me another prescription for Bactrim. It worked yet again, and within a few days it was all cleared up.

The third time's a charm, right? When I saw my regular PCP for my quarterly check up in September, I asked for a prescription of Bactrim, since I was going to get another tattoo in November. I added on the lizard, palm tree and flip flops, and on my left arm I put on a microphone since I was in radio and still do and internet radio show.

(Notice the lizard at the bottom left corner)

(There's the lone palm with flip flops on the bottom right)

(My 3" microphone)

After 2 days, they started to get red and swollen again. I took the Bactrim and had an allergic reaction to it! I got a rash in a couple of places, along with some sensitivity on my chest. I just can't catch a break.

I went to see the PCP who had helped me the first time, and luckily she didn't say "I told you so." She gave me a prescription for Amoxicillin 875 for 10 days.

After 3 days, it wasn't working, or so I thought. So she gave me Clindimycin which is a very powerful antibiotic. After 3 days of that, I woke up at 6:30 AM with a burning pain in my stomach. I drank some water, and woke up a couple of hours later. I took a Zantac and was better in an hour or so. 

I sent her a message telling her what happened, and I was going back on the Amoxicillin, which I still had 7 days worth. As of this writing, the redness and swelling has gone done considerably. If need be, I still have enough Clindimycin to finish it off.

Do you think I've learned my lesson? Yes indeed, no more tattoos for me. I can't go through this again!